Do You Still Use Q-tips to Clean Your Ears?

It is now official, you shouldn't clean your ears with a Q-tip. The American Academy of Otolaryngology, aka physicians who specialize in treating issues involving the ear, nose and throat (ENT), have issued clinical guidelines about cleaning your ears. To put it simply, don't stick anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow.

Earwax, although not so attractive, is important to the health of your ears. The wax is a self-cleaning agent that also has protective properties. However, if the wax buildup causes hearing loss or pain, you should see a doctor to have it removed. Do not attempt to fish out that wax on your own. The ENTs also stress that Q-tips should never be put in the ear canal. Other home remedies this physicians' group strongly recommend avoiding involve using Waterpiks to irrigate your own ear canal and ear candles.

I must admit that even though I have been schooled by many a doctor friend about the hazards of Q-tips, I still occasionally use them. What about you . . .

\u00a0@bealotus\u00a0You are what we like to colloquially call a germaphob. It's a form of OCD, and it's not something to be proud of (you'd be best off to seek treatment). Showering twice a day is killing your skin, the damage your doing overtime can be astronomical. Not to mention how incredibly wasteful you're being. Where the hell do you get off, thinking you deserve to shower excessively just because you "can"? Go spend some time in the third world, maybe you'll actually develop a moral compass...

\u00a0@Kadiya\u00a0They specifically state that they are intended for cleaning OUTSIDE the ear. The fact that you can't pay attention and read pertinent information isn't the fault of the\u00a0Chesebrough-Pond/Unilever Company, so don't accuse them of misrepresentation.

\u00a0@austerity\u00a0YOU DON'T!!!!!! The wax is supposed to coat the ear, you expose yourself to bacterial and fungal infections when you remove it. Would you rather have fungus growing in your ears?!?

Every single one of you who refuses to even consider this advice is an idiot. Sorry if that's insulting, but it's definitely true. Do even a tiny bit of research and you'll see how many doctors are freaking out about this subject. You really can do yourself serious harm. Often\u00a0unexpectedly, so for those of you who say that you're careful, think again. You can be as careful as you like, doesn't change the fact that you're blindly rooting around inside one of your bodies most sensitive\u00a0orifices. Not to mention the fact that the wax serves a purpose, and you're exposing your ear to injury and bacterial or fungal infection by removing it. So congrats kids, your arrogance and silly obsessive behavior will be your downfall :P\u00a0

\u00a0@Spectra\u00a0Like I said to someone else, chronic Q-tip use creates dryness in the sensitive ear canal.\u00a0Dry skin\u00a0itches. People with itchy ears use Q-tips (and other found objects) to scratch them. The scratching causes itching. Do you see the cycle here? Eventually, the damaged skin will break down and crack, allowing opportunistic bacteria or yucky fungus to invade. Congratulations. You have caused otitis externa, also known as\u00a0Swimmer\u2019s Ear.

\u00a0@Jewels2080\u00a0Chronic Q-tip use creates dryness in the sensitive ear canal.\u00a0Dry skin\u00a0itches. People with itchy ears use Q-tips (and other found objects) to scratch them. The scratching causes itching. Do you see the cycle here? Eventually, the damaged skin will break down and crack, allowing opportunistic bacteria or yucky fungus to invade. Congratulations. You have caused otitis externa, also known as\u00a0Swimmer\u2019s Ear.

\u00a0@sparklestar\u00a0"Q-tips are not unlike the plungers used to load cannon. They can pack softer wax deeply in the ear canal against the eardrum. By creating a formidable plug and preventing the eardrum from moving normally, it is quite easy to cause some significant hearing loss. Water can also be trapped behind these self-created wax dams and entertain you by constant sloshing around. When this happens, the ear will need to be lavaged \u2014 washed out by a gentle stream of warm water. Or, you will need to see your medical provider, someone that CAN look inside your ear and remove the impaction professionally." You're one of the few with a chronic wax issue, you should see a medical professional regularly to deal with. Or you can do it yourself because you won't listen to me, and end up injured or deaf. Whatever floats your boat.

"Human beings have been digging around in their ears since the Dawn of Time. I bet even\u00a0selective-hearing\u00a0Adam was cleaning out his ears during God\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t eat the apples\u201d lecture. Museums have examples of ivory and gold ear spoons that date back thousands of years. When I was visiting Japan a few decades ago, a cute little Japanese girl handed me a sample of a modern, disposable ear spoon. That\u2019s what the world needs: another product that can cause potential harm.
We can blame some of this stuff on our parents and our parent\u2019s parents and so on. They were the ones that started the rumor that earwax was bad stuff that had to be removed, like toe jam or a booger hanging out of your nose. They could not have been more wrong.
While excess, hard, or obstructive earwax can be problematic, most\u00a0earwax\u00a0(cerumen) is infinitely more beneficial. It is a normal, protective coating for the sensitive skin of the ear canal. A canal coated with ear wax will repel water and help prevent external ear infections. When you dig it out like some demented gold miner, you leave your ear very vulnerable.
Since we do not have the ability to look inside our own ears at the present time (you can buy a video otoscope for under a thousand dollars if you want), most Q-tip users blindly probe around looking for yellow, often getting red instead. Many will look at their wax-stained swab with pride and admiration of a job well done. Eventually, they will go too far and injure or\u00a0rupture their eardrums. If it wasn\u2019t for pain and blood, I suspect that some people would excavate around until they pulled out little bones or brain tissue. Perhaps, many have already done that.
Q-tips are not unlike the plungers used to load cannon. They can pack softer wax deeply in the ear canal against the eardrum. By creating a formidable plug and preventing the eardrum from moving normally, it is quite easy to cause some significant hearing loss. Water can also be trapped behind these self-created wax dams and entertain you by constant sloshing around. When this happens, the ear will need to be lavaged \u2014 washed out by a gentle stream of warm water. Or, you will need to see your medical provider, someone that CAN look inside your ear and remove the impaction professionally.
Chronic Q-tip use creates dryness in the sensitive ear canal.\u00a0Dry skin\u00a0itches. People with itchy ears use Q-tips (and other found objects) to scratch them. The scratching causes itching. Do you see the cycle here? Eventually, the damaged skin will break down and crack, allowing opportunistic bacteria or yucky fungus to invade. Congratulations. You have caused otitis externa, also known as\u00a0Swimmer\u2019s Ear.
Speaking of swimmers, chronic water exposure can wash out all of the protective wax, too, causing the water to remain in the ear canal. In order to remove the water, people will use Q-tips, or put drops of drying alcohol in the ear canal, often making the matters worse. I recently tested a new product called DryEar, a portable/rechargeable ear dryer. I loved it. It blows a gentle stream of warm air into the ear canal to dry out that trapped water.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Q-tips; a fine, well-made product. They have hundreds of clever uses. As long as you don\u2019t put them INSIDE your ears, they are a safe product. In the hands of idiots, they are true Weapons of Ear Destruction." - Web M.D. (not my favorite source, but this guy's dead on).

5 years

i agree with q-tip hater

5 years

i hate them they screw up ears and kidz lives F*** them

6 years

i used to not clean my ears with q-tips. then i started doing it daily, and shortly thereafter got a horrible, horrible ear infection. moral of the story: don't do it!!!

6 years

QTIPZ ARE PROBOBLY DANGEROUS FOR YOU TO USE EVERYDAY. IF THAT. YOUR EAR NEEDS TO HAVE ITS NATURAL SECRETION OF WAX. IF YOU HAVE IT TO THE POINT WHERE IS IS ABLE TO BE SEEN COMING OUT OF THE CANAL then YESSSSSS OFCOURSE clean it softly with a qtip. but be careful you dont hurt yourself. A lot of doctors say it is bad to use them and your ear needs to have wax. but if it was up to me, id only use them maybe 2wice a month only if wax happens to clump up. this is gross. anyways. good luck qtiperz

one time I made the mistake of trying to use a Qtip to get water out of my ear. What I ended up doing was creating a sealant between the water and the wax in my ear which resulted in me having to go to a doctor to have them painfully flush everything out of my canal...embarrassing and tres gross

i do use Q-tips and i don't really see what the issue is seeing as how i don't put the swab in that far. i don't know - i saw something on Taxi TV about it and how you shouldn't clean all the wax out, but for years i've done it and i haven't hurt myself...

My boyfriend uses... get this... a bent round paperclip!! When I found out I was so freaked out. I tried it and gave myself a serious ear infection. ;p I was deaf for like a month!What else am I supposed to use?! My fingers? I had glue ear and gromits as a child so if I don't clean the excess wax I'll be deaf. :)

My boyfriend uses... get this... a bent round paperclip!! When I found out I was so freaked out. I tried it and gave myself a serious ear infection. ;p I was deaf for like a month!
What else am I supposed to use?! My fingers? I had glue ear and gromits as a child so if I don't clean the excess wax I'll be deaf. :)